No. 3 USC Men’s Water Polo Drops Contest To No. 2 Stanford

Saturday, October 31

Stanford, Calif.

1:00 p.m.

USC

14-4

Stanford

16-2

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
USC (M)	2	4	5	2	13
Stanford (M)	2	5	4	6	17

Photo by: Evan Grant

October 31, 2026 | Men's Water Polo

Box Score

STANFORD, Calif. – In the third meeting of the season, the No. 3 USC Men's Water Polo team headed back up north to take on the No. 2 Stanford Cardinal in a key conference matchup.

#3 USC 13, #2 Stanford 17
The Cardinal scored the first goal of the contest after both squads traded possessions to start off. Gavin Conant got the Trojans on the board before Efe Naipoglu found the back of the cage with just under three minutes in the frame. Stanford got one back on a powerplay tally to knot things up at two apiece after the first quarter.

Naipoglu scored his second of the day in the next stanza as Stanford then took a two goal lead. Ante Jerkovic responded to cut the lead to one. Once again, the squads traded possessions, Tyler Anderson tipped in the tally on the powerplay as the goal stood at 7-6 Stanford at the end of the first half.

The Cardinal boosted its lead to three goals as play began in the third but USC worked to cut back into the deficit. Jerkovic found the back of the cafe after key defensive plays by Robert López Duart and Marc Angelescu. Anderson then scored his second goal of the contest before Strahinja Krstic fired one home on the counter attack to tie the game up at 10-10. Stanford scored one more, but Naipoglu completed his hat trick with under a minute to go in the third for a score of 11-11 heading into the fourth.

The Trojans were unable to thwart the Cardinal offense as USC fell to Stanford 17-13.

Scoring: Efe Naipoglu (3), Ante Jerkovic (3), Tyler Anderson (2), Gavin Conant, Reed Hanna, Robert López Duart, Luke Nelson, Strahinja Krstic

Saves: Charles Mills (3)

Notables

Naipoglu has scored in all 18 games this season with a hat trick in today's contest.
Niapoglu led the USC offense with five points.
The Trojans had eight different goal scorers with three players registering multi-goal outings.

Up Next
The Trojans will play their second game up in the Bay area of the weekend against MPSF foe No. 3 California. The contest is set for 1:00 p.m. at the Spieker Aquatics Complex.